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University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR 11 Political Science

Professional Master Degree International Cooperation, Humanitarian Action

and Development Policies

2010 - 2011

Wild meat, livelihoods, and sustainability.

Addressing this issue within the Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Pauline Quierzy, Intern at FAO, Animal Production and Health Division

Max - Jean Zins, Dissertation Director

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The designations employed and the presentation of material in this dissertation do not imply the

expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the University of Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. The

views expressed in this dissertation are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

University of Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne.

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this dissertation do not imply the

expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its

authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific

companies or products or manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that

these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are

not mentioned. The views expressed in this dissertation are those of the author and do not necessarily

reflect the views of FAO.

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Wild ruminant bleeding, blood drunk by all Surma

warriors and carrying the carcass – Ethiopia, Omo

Valley (Courtesy of Fulvio Biancifiori -

info@photoreportageonline.com)

Rupestrian painting of a hunting scene – Libya,

Simien (Photo Pauline Quierzy)

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Acknowledgments

I wish to give special thanks to…

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

My colleagues at the FAO who I have had the pleasure to meet from a number of different Departments.

Without their support, the development of the thoughts presented in this dissertation would not have been

possible.

The Animal Health and Production Division (AGAH), for their warm welcome and in particular the

Wildlife Unit: Scott, Tracy, Lindsey, Jennifer and Sergei.

Scott Newman, my internship tutor, for making me interested in this fascinating issue and offering me the

chance to work in the United Nations.

Sergei, for his philosophy and patience when exchanging ideas and for making me think in different

ways.

Samuel, for sharing his knowledge on wild meat with me from the early beginning of my work.

Jean – Michel, Stéphane, Robin and Philippe, for providing ideas and perspectives and helping me to

understand an international organization as well as their advice regarding my professional path.

Florence, for making me believe in my project despite many challenges.

Sigfrido, for his steadfast support in organizing the workshop on wild meat.

Fulvio, for sharing his passion for photographing peoples and cultures from all over the world.

Lindsey, and Anne – Sophie, for their precious help and sparkling energy.

Fanny, for bringing me into this UN adventure.

Marion, Lindsey, Morgane, Ludovic, Leonardo, and Paul, for all the coffee and cappuccino breaks, a way

of life that is no longer foreign to me.

Epke, Emily and Giacomo for sharing the “boiling atmosphere” of our office!

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Sorbonne University

The teachers and students of the 2010-2011 CIAHPD promotion, with whom I have spent six wonderful

months reconsidering a range of issues around the themes of development and cooperation: the time spent

with them represents an important human and cultural experience which will forever influence my

professional life. Our discussions have pushed me to reconsider my opinions and become more critical in

my reflection. Special thanks go to Marie, Claire, Aurélie, Nora, Tania, Margaux, Michel Olivier,

Mathieu and Mathieu.

Professor Max Jean Zins, my dissertation Director, for giving me the taste to explore Asia (and India in

particular!) and to study a subject in as great a depth as possible; and for having the open-mindness and

curiosity to support my internship topic.

Family and friends

To my dear parents, my brother Nicolas, Camille, my grand-mother, and Babeth, for believing in me once

again and supporting my move back to the classroom. Thank you for understanding my desire to learn,

again and again.

To Lulu, who has definitely a taste for wild meat!

To Emily, for her unrelenting support.

To Florence and Gabriela, and to all my Italian friends, in particular those of Monti, Olimpia and Lapo,

who have introduced me to life in Italy: dolce vita!

To Claire, for the hours spent sharing our thoughts on our experiences of development agencies.

To Charlotte and Juliette, my unforgettable Parisian friends.

To my supporters from Auvers-sur-Oise: Delphine and Jérôme, Sarah and Yann.

To Woody Allen and Michel Petrucciani, my fellow co-workers, dedicated to the good cause!

“As is usually the case in science, answers bring about new questions”

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Summary

The increasing levels of wildlife hunting and wild meat use for livelihoods is raising concerns,

through its implications on food security, health, food safety, and biodiversity conservation dimensions.

Finding solutions to achieve sustainable practices require a collective and coordinated vision. FAO, as a

specialised agency of the United Nations, can address this issue taking fully into consideration its

transversality across dimensions and disciplines. This necessitates expanding dialogue, converging

pragmatically within a common holistic approach, and recognizing the relevance of the issue in regards to

its mandate, strategic objectives, and core functions.

Key words:

Wild meat; bushmeat; livelihoods; sustainability; FAO; United Nations; international organization; food

security; zoonoses; health; food safety; biodiversity conservation; social sciences; hunting; wildlife;

dimensions; disciplines; transversality; multidisciplinary; coordination.

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Contents

Acknowledgments p.3

Summary p.5

Key words p.6

Abbreviations and acronyms p.9

Introduction p.12

1. State of knowledge on the use of wild meat according to four

dimensions: p.15

a. Food security: p.16

i. Background p.16

ii. Science-based facts p.16

iii. Discussion p.24

b. Zoonoses: p.26

i. Background p.26

ii. Science-based facts p.26

iii. Discussion p.32

c. Food safety: p.36

i. Background p.36

ii. Science-based facts p.36

iii. Discussion p.43

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d. Biodiversity conservation: p.46

i. Background p.46

ii. Science-based facts p.46

iii. Discussion p.54

2. Wild meat, livelihoods, and sustainability: transversal issues across

dimensions and disciplines: p.56

a. Where do the four dimensions meet? p.56

i. Linkages between food security and conservation p.57

ii. Linkages between food security and public health p.57

iii. Linkages between public health and conservation p.58

b. The value of social sciences in addressing the issue: p.59

i. Anthropology p.59

ii. Sociology p.61

iii. Political and economical history p.61

iv. Political sciences, economics, law, and international relations p.63

v. Social and moral philosophy p.65

3. Implications for FAO when addressing wild meat, livelihoods, and

sustainability: p.67

a. Expanding internal dialogue: p.67

i. Seeking cross-sectoral collaboration p.67

ii. Building a multidisciplinary working group p.69

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b. Converging to support a common approach: p.70

i. From conservation to development and health: p.70

ii. FAO and One Health p.85

c. Recognizing the issue’s relevance to the FAO mandate: p.87

i. A cause for institutional dialogue at an international level: p.87

1. Poverty and the unsustainable use of wild meat: sharing

common underlying causes p.87

2. Governance and the unsustainable use of wild meat: managing

a common resource p.88

3. Unsustainable use of wild meat: a public health concern with

no boundaries p.90

ii. Working in line with the FAO objectives p.91

Conclusion p.93

Bibliographical references p.96

List of key websites consulted p.114

Glossary p.115

List of Annexes p.123

Table of contents p.147

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Abbreviations and acronyms

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

ADMADE Administrative Management Design Project

AGAH Animal Production and Health Division

ASF African Swine Fever

BTB Bovine Tuberculosis

BZP Buffer Zone Project

CAPSCA Cooperative Arrangement for the Prevention of Spread of Communicable Disease through

Air Travel

CAR Central African Republic

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CCHF Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever

CIB Congolaise Industrielle des Bois

CIC International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation

CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research

CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

COMIFAC Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale

CPUE Catch Per Unit Effort

CSF Classical Swine Fever

Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

DFID Department For International Development, UK

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

EBH Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

EBOV Ebola Virus

EIAs Environmental Impact Assessments

EIDs Emerging Infectious Diseases

EU European Union

EUTWIX European Union Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange

EZDs Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

FACE Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the European Union

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

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FLA Fishing License Agreements

FMD Foot and Mouth Disease

FSA Food Standards Agency, UK

GEF Global Environment Facility

GVFI Global Viral Forecasting Initiative

HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus

ICDPs Integrated Conservation and Development Projects

IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare

ILAPS Illegal Import of Animal Product Seizures

IPBES Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

ITQs Individual Transferable Quotas

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

JGI Jane Goodall Institute

LMIC Low and middle-income countries

LTAR Long-Term Action Research program

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

NAO National Audit Office, UK

NGOs Non Governmental Organization

NHPs Non Human Primates

NPRS National Poverty Reduction Strategy

NSGRP National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty

NTFP Non Timber Forest Products

ODI Overseas Development Institute

OFAC Observatory for the Forests of Central Africa

OIE Office mondiale de la Santé Animale

PAHs Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

PAs Protected Areas

PBAA Benin-German grasscutter rearing project

PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction

POAO Products Of Animal Origin

POST Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

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PWM Participatory Wildlife Management

RMF Risk Management Framework

SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom

SEAs Strategic Environmental Assessments

SFV Simian Foamy Virus

SIV Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

SRV Simian type D retrovirus

STLV Simian T-cell Lymphotropic Virus

SO Strategic Objective

SYVBAC Système de suivi de la filière viande de brousse en Afrique Centrale (Central African

Bushmeat Monitoring System)

TB Tuberculosis

TCM Traditional Chinese Medicine

TED Technology Entertainment and Design

UK United – Kingdom

UN United Nations

UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees

USAID United – States Agency for International Development

VS Veterinary Services

VTEC Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli

WCS World Conservation Society

WHO World Health Organization

ZEBOV Zaire Ebola Virus

ZSL Zoological Society of London

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Introduction

There is an increasing concern about the use of meat derived from wild animals (in parts of Africa

known as “bushmeat”, hereafter referred to as “wild meat”) and its implications. Wild meat is defined as

any non-domesticated terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians harvested for food (Nasi et al.,

2008). Wildlife hunting, the trade and consumption of wild meat have long been part of human history

and occur across a wide range of cultures, at various geographic and economic scales. Many types of

people hunt, from specialised rural hunters of forests, steppes or savannahs to non-specialized urban

hunters; and for various purposes, including subsistence, trade or recreation. The value of wild meat is of

economic, nutritional, ecological and socio-cultural significance; with culture defining the weight carried

by one of each dimension (Chardonnet, 2002).

Hunting patterns have gradually evolved over time; however, in the past two decades, the use of wild

meat has rapidly shifted from local community hunting or gathering for subsistence, to large commercial

enterprises, involving millions of tons of meat travelling long distances across international borders. This

changing dynamic has raised grave concerns among the conservation community, raising awareness about

these unsustainable practices that are leading large mammal species to the brink of extinction. The

concerns to date have been driven primarily through conservation advocacy. However, the implications of

unsustainable harvest for commercial purposes are much more complex and wide-ranging, and should not

been underestimated. Unsustainable levels of wildlife hunting could threaten not only wildlife

populations, but also people who depend on this natural resource for livelihoods, income, ecological

services, food security or health. Additionally, an associated risk of diseases emergence and transmission

through hunting and trading wildlife has been identified, as well as a risk of food poisoning from wild

meat consumption.

Wild meat related practices are at the forefront of the convergence of livelihoods and food security,

public health and biodiversity conservation in many developing countries. The search for policy solutions

to balance stakeholders’ interests for theses resources has emphasised the complex linkages between wild

meat hunting and wider issues of poor governance, inadequate land tenure and entitlements, poverty and

lack of livelihoods alternatives. The World Conservation Congress (WCS), Amman, 2000, reports

“wildlife populations and the livelihoods of people in many countries are threatened by escalating

unsustainable use of wild meat, driven by increasing demand due to human population growth, poverty

and consumer preferences, and aggravated by problems of governance, use of increasingly efficient

technology, and provision of hunting access in remote areas by logging roads”.

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The use of wild meat is embedded in a complex cultural, political and economic context, with specific

drivers and mechanisms that defy any “single global approach”. Hunting for wild meat is a major

component of rural livelihoods strategies in the forests of West and Central Africa. Consumption of wild

meat occurs in remote areas in South America, where it remains a significant activity. In Asia, the rapidly

growing international trade in wildlife as exotic food and for medicinal purposes food is driven by a rising

demand in urban areas and Southern China. In Europe, Southern Africa and North America, hunting

wildlife is primarily leisure sport or associated with wildlife farming and ranching. Despite being an

illegal activity in major parts of the world, the trade of protected species wild meat has continued to thrive

and expand for number of reasons: growing populations of cultural and ethnic groups in most major urban

centers, urbanization, expansion of natural resource extraction activities, displacement of refugees,

disruption of local trading practices due to political instability, civil war or armed conflicts and

globalization.

For wild meat use to be sustainable, social, economic, public health, and ecological viewpoints must

be balanced. The solutions to the so-called “wild meat issue” have proven mostly ineffective thus far,

certainly because the achievement of sustainable practices requires a collective vision from different

disciplines and stakeholders, which is difficult to accomplish.

Within the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the issue has emerged

repeatedly over the past two decades, internally in different departments, and on the international scene

through various conferences1. The “wild meat issue” is considered by the organization to be a major

concern and is the subject of various publications and activities produced individually by distinct

departments and divisions. FAO experts and delegates express views and opinions on the issue but have

not converged pragmatically. Within the Animal Production and Health Division (AGAH), and more

particularly in the Wildlife Unit, specific concerns have been identified regarding the impact of wild meat

consumption on both human and animal health. The need to initiate studies on sanitary risks and eventual

disease transmission through wild meat use has been recognized, but it is important to conduct such

research within a broader discussion framework.

How can FAO address the wild meat issue in a new and a more comprehensive way? During my six-

month internship within the AGAH Wildlife Unit, my mission was to broaden the analysis of the issue to

better understand its complexity, at the end, to better address it. The methodological approach followed

included: 1. reviewing the existing wide-ranging literature on wild meat, livelihoods and sustainability;

1 Annex 1 - Extracts from the reports of FAO Regional Conference for Africa.

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2. identifying main dimensions characterizing the issue and organizing the existing knowledge

according to these dimensions; 3. finding experts on each dimension within the organization to discuss

relevant trends and points of discussion of the ongoing debate; and, bringing these people together to

share their respective views, to identify interactions between the dimensions, and to find ways to address

them.

The objectives of this dissertation are three fold. In a first part, the state of knowledge on the use of

wild meat according to four dimensions; food security, zoonoses, food safety and biodiversity

conservation; will be reviewed. In the second part, the functional links between these dimensions will be

illustrated and missing disciplines, within them social sciences, identified. Finally, the implications in

terms of dialogue and approach for FAO to address this specific issue will be presented.

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1. State of knowledge on the use of wild meat according to four

dimensions:

Despite increasing international attention on the wild meat issue, available information is still

fragmented, access is limited and no systematic approach to data analysis has been provided.

A preliminary work has been to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing literature on wild

meat, livelihoods and sustainability, using various sources of information (both FAO and non-FAO

materials) of different natures (conference reports, books, serials, websites of interest, non specialized

press, etc.). Beyond the use of these material resources2, FAO human resources were also valued. The

science-based facts were indeed supplemented with interview-based facts, provided through discussions

with colleagues across different departments and divisions, who have been working at some time on the

issue but were not necessarily experts. Special attention was paid to dialogue with people from different

nationalities (reflecting the global nature of the issue), backgrounds, and field experiences, who could

bring their professional and personal views into the debate3.

In the end, knowledge gathered was synthesised and organized from food security, public health, food

safety, and conservation viewpoints. Indeed, we have considered these aspects as key dimensions to take

into account while analysing this issue. Sharing knowledge and internal discussions captured, for each

dimension, the ongoing trends and concerns, to point out their antagonisms, synergies, and challenge the

existing literature by bringing new views and interrogations into the debate. A systematic approach is

adopted to present the data: presentation of the context, the facts and main talking points.

2 Opened in 1952, the David Lubin Memorial Library at FAO is considered one of the world’s finest collections of food,

agricultural and international development information, containing not only FAO’s institutional memory but also over 50-years

of accumulated agricultural knowledge and expertise among its one million volumes. The On-Line site allows to search its

extensive catalogue and FAO databases, as well as providing links to both FAO and other institutional electronic journals and

other sites of interest to FAO users.

3 Annex 2 - List of FAO contacts across Departments involved in discussions on the wild meat issue - Building an internal

transversal network.

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a. Food security:

i. Background:

The use of wild meat is a consumptive use of wildlife, with either a nutritional, economic or

sociocultural value (Chardonnet, 2002). This practice, as old as humankind, has been a supporting

livelihood for most ancient civilizations and enabled survival for many (the hunter-gatherers, trappers,

reindeer herders, Inuits). Wild meat remains important to many developing countries and the sustainable

use of wildlife is fully recognised as legitimate by all international institutions and conventions (IUCN,

2000).

In the past decades, hunting for wild meat has evolved from a purely subsistence-based activity to a

more business-oriented one. Soaring wildlife offtake has raised concerns, including long term food

security and the sustainability of livelihoods associated with using wild meat. The international profile of

wild meat consumption has gradually evolved almost entirely into a negative perspective (Brown, 2003).

There is still a lack of detailed empirical evidence concerning the role of wild meat as food and/or

income in rural and urban households, but the debate is rich of conventional thoughts. Recent evidence

suggests that interactions are much more complex than previously assumed.

Who are the people that truly depend on wild meat, and to what extent? Does hunting for wild meat

respond to a food need or a food preference? Is it a necessity or a choice? Is it an adaptative strategy or a

coping strategy? We need to better understand the complex mechanisms and the drivers of hunting,

trading and eating wild meat, which are often site and people-specific.

ii. Science-based facts:

The use of wild meat: at the crossroads of nutritional, economic and sociocultural

purposes:

Wild meat has been a valuable resource for human beings since the earliest times. Today, its

importance as a source of food and income differs considerably according to each country. Inhabitants of

West and Central Africa have a particularly long tradition of using wild meat as the most common source

of protein in both rural areas and large cities; wild meat is preferred over livestock, and socially very

important. A Burundi woman reports: “the air would be filled with aroma of bushmeat cooking, and the

children would be happy and excited waiting for the tasty meal” (Jambiya, Milledge and Mtango, 2007).

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Trade represents a massive market which financial value is difficult to appraise due to its informal nature.

In East and Southern Africa, wild meat consumption is widespread. Two situations co-exists: the official

sector: a small amount of game is produced through licensing and sold in butcheries as gourmet food at

relatively high prices not affordable to the majority; and the informal one: large quantities of meat are

obtained illegally and sold cheaply enough to be consumed by the low-income rural and peri-urban

people. Wild meat is relatively important as a protein source compared to domestic animals and fish,

varying between 6% in Southern Africa and 55% in Central Africa, of total protein consumption

(Chardonnet, 2002).

In the Neotropics, hunting remains an important subsistence activity but few data exist on commercial

hunting; the harvest is often sold as it has a high market value. By comparison, the demand for wild meat

in West and Central Africa is as much as four times greater than that in the Amazon Basin (Fa et al.,

1995) and the value of wild meat harvested in the latter exceeds US$175 million per year; in Ivory Coast,

the annual value of wild meat trade is estimated to be US$200 million.

Most people in the Far East Asia are very fond of wild meat. People’s Republic China consumes the

entire range of wildlife. Medicinal products from wild animals (zootherapy) are widely used in many

cultures, since ancient times, exemplified in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Unani medicine,

Indian Ayurvedic (Alves and Rosa, 2005).

In Northern countries, there is subsistence hunting in Northern native American cultures. Wild meat

also comes from the active wildlife farming/ranching industry. Hunting is still an appreciated recreational

activity. Occidental consumers, becoming aware of the health risks associated with the high levels of

satured fats present in conventional red meats, value the nutritive quality of wild meat (Fletcher, 1997).

In this chapter, we will focus our attention on the developing countries and particularly Central Africa

as the most documented region, where hunting for wild meat forms a major part of informal activities.

Since there is a ban on hunting to protect endangered species, hunting is this area is neither officially

registered nor even fully described; but quite well-organized.

The wild meat commodity chain:

The production and consumption of wild meat forms a supply chain with hunting households

classified as suppliers while purchasing households would be classified as consumers (Bassett, 2005).

Hunting is no longer confined to local villagers. Organized groups of hunters use new roads and

vehicles to penetrate deep into remote areas. Industrial trucks carry wild meat and hunters, reducing the

costs associated with supplying meat and increasing labour efficiency through the rapid transport of wild

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meat to markets. Hunters are organized into associations, for instance the donzo ton in Ivory Coast, which

is highly decentralized and headed by the most senior member at the village level (Bassett, 2005). Traders

travel to rural communities where they buy almost any species that hunters bring to them, and then export

wild meat to nearby towns, established to support extractive industries or regional transportation hubs, or

and large even cities hundreds of kilometres away, including European capitals for instance. Urban-based

merchants and restaurants owners buy the meat, responding to a strong urban demand. This commodity

chain is complex and it is often unclear who controls it, sets the prices, and who simply acts as an agent or

intermediary.

Wild meat production (hunting, harvesting and trade) represents an activity with few barriers entry,

low capital required and high social inclusivity. Initiation is open to anyone, although it is almost

exclusively a male organization. In most situations, men do the hunting, but women take charge of all the

downstream processing and commerce, to the points of sale, including chop bars and restaurants which

are familiar features of urban area. Some authors describe the organization of such a chain, on which

many people rely, as a “success story” (Brown, 2003)4, recognizing wild meat trade as something to be

managed, not devalued.

Hunting wild meat to supply to markets is a response to expanding rural and urban populations. Will

this demand continue? Indeed, according to some authors, if current natural resources extraction

industries continue, there will be a significant decline in available wild meat protein by 2050 in the Congo

Basin, and there will be insufficient non-wild protein produced to replace the volume supplied by wild

meat. Maintaining protein supplies in this region are highly pessimistic simply because of the

uncontrolled increase in the human population. The extraction of wild meat can be seen as a density-

dependent phenomenon, extraction increasing linearly with human population growth. Projections show

that even if wild meat protein supply were reduced to a sustainable level, current non-wild meat protein

production could not supply enough meat to cover the needs of the Congo Basin population, apart from

Gabon (Fa, Currie and Meuuwing, 2003). The large-scale operation of extractive industries stimulates

local human population growth into areas that were formerly sparsely populated, altering the

demographics of rural communities, which influenced patterns of wild meat supply and consumption.

Over six years, populations of logging towns in Northern Congo rose by 69% and the biomass of wild

meat within these towns by 64%. Migrants and foreigners harvested 72% of animals recorded in markets

4 “The scale, vigour and penetration of this trade might be viewed in a highly positive light, as one of the great success stories of

autonomous food production in the developing world, and testimony to the resilience and self-sufficiency of its populations”

(Brown, 2003).

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and along principal entry routes into logging towns, and local communities consumed 66% of all wild

meat. The relatively high salaries of rural workers employed by extractive industries provide the means to

drive the trade and increase purchasing power as well as leading to use of modern weapons, such as guns

(Poulsen et al., 2009).

If growing population appears to be globally a strong stimulus for market hunting, we need to better

understand the factors predisposing individuals to hunt, that is to say in which way this activity is

important for rural and urban livelihoods.

Incentives for hunting:

Even if urban demand and rural supply are interactive, we can distinguish the hunting drivers in rural

areas from urban areas.

In rural areas:

Do people hunt for food or income? Is wild meat valuable used for household consumption or market

sales?

A study in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) indicates that wild meat is not a major component

in the diet of households, reporting a per capita consumption of wild meat of only 40 grams per day,

relatively low in comparison to previous studies in the Congo Basin, reporting that rural dwellers

consume daily 130 grams (Wilkie and Carpenter, 1999a). A low consumption of wild meat within the

households can be explained either because the families cannot afford the equipment necessary to hunt, or

the meat hunted is sold for income. However, wild meat does become important in the diet during the lean

season when agricultural products are scarce and families are most vulnerable to food shortages.

Nevertheless, wild meat appears to be much more important as a source of income, with as much as 90%

indeed sold at markets. This enables the households to purchase important commodities such as medical

supplies (De Merode, Homewood and Cowlishaw, 2004).

A recent study in Equatorial Guinea also reports that wild meat is a significant, but not a major

component of household food. Frozen fish was the most commonly consumed, followed by dry/tinned

fish and frozen livestock but in this case, no seasonal patterns existed (Kumpell et al., 2010b).

Expenditure on different types of meat and fish types differed significantly from consumption patterns.

Overall expenditure on wild meat and fresh fish was proportionally low because families common capture

these wild foods. Hunters sold on average 90% of their wild meat and those hunters catching most

animals sold a greater proportion, as they were hunting predominantly for income. Hunters catching fewer

animals tended to be hunting for subsistence or crop protection. Wild meat and fresh livestock were on

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average the most expensive food types, although the price of wild meat varied considerably. The more

marketable species (medium-large ungulates, pangolins, porcupines and monkeys) were sold, whilst the

smaller, less profitable species were consumed within the household or in hunter camps. At the village

level, hunting was the major income-generating activity for most men, contributing to some degree to

household food security, but to a greater extent to household income. The majority of local community

based hunter incomes fall into the lowest income category, although more intensive, organised and often

corrupt hunting of meat is exported regionally and internationally, and can be quite profitable.

Studies in Central African Republic (CAR) (Noss, 2000) and in Republic of Congo (Eves and

Ruggiero, 2000) share the same observations.

A study in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, reports that hunting is an important part of adaptative

strategies of people living adjacent to the park. Arrested hunters, coming from the poorest sections of the

community, report hunting to generate cash, to pay taxes, and make village development contributions to

purchase clothing or school supplies. A day’s hunting produced an average profit equivalent to between

70 to over 150 days of normal villagers’ earnings (Campbell, Nelson and Loibooki, 2001).

These adaptative strategies differ from coping strategies. In the latter, people hunt game meat not by

choice, but of necessity.

Do people hunt by choice or necessity? Is wild meat more valuable in worsening livelihood situations?

In Equatorial Guinea, when people were asked if they want their sons to be hunters, 90% of

respondents state emphatically, “no”. Given the lack of prestige or enjoyment in hunting, most men tend

not to hunt if they have alternative sources of income. Commercial hunting is better perceived as a

fallback livelihood, carried out when there is no viable alternative. People express a clear preference for

salaried income (such as working for a foreign company, restaurants or bars), partly due to the stability of

a monthly wages and partly due to higher status (Kumpell et al., 2010b). As incomes generating

alternatives are still scarce in rural villages, and not necessarily predictable, hunting remains a reality.

Wild meat provides a fallback supply of food or income when environnemental, economic or personal

crises occur. In DRC, wild meat consumption increases during lean seasons, which is also reported in

Mali and Ghana (De Merode, Homewood and Cowlishaw, 2004). Hunting is also a strategy for coping

with problems such as stock theft. A change in the age profile of wild meat hunters may be related to

increasing levels of rural poverty. Men considered as important or primary contributors to household

incomes are often forced to hunt to make necessary contributions towards financial security (Campbell,

Nelson and Loibooki, 2001). Hunting enables them to raise money for a funeral or to buy medicine. When

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hunting for very specific purposes men use guns, if available, because they provide a more effective

technique compared to snares which are less reliable and profitable due to a lower yield over a given

period (Coad, 2010).

What is the relationship between wealth and/or income level and wild meat consumption?

Wealth is difficult to measure, incorporating social, political and economic dimensions and referring

to the long-term ability of a household to bear shocks. Wealth is distinct from income, which can be

defined in terms of short-term cash flow, or current household production (Homewood, 2005).

Traditionally for the Fang, signs of wealth are many wives and children and high agricultural capacity in

terms of fields and livestock. The perception of wealth is often confounded with factors such as status and

prestige and represents more than financial assets alone. Using wealth or total income to predict the

likelihood of hunting can lead to reverse causality if hunting is a large contributor to the household

economy. Hunting probability is related to non-hunting income. Thus in a situation where people are

hunting purely for income to increase short-term cash flow, rather than for reasons such as prestige or

tradition, wealth may not be a good proxy for income (Kumpell, 2010b).

Few studies have calculated the elasticity of consumption relative to income or wealth. A study

completed in South and Central America reports that an increase in income causes consumption of wild

meat to increase, but the effect is modest, suggesting that wild meat is a necessity or staple diet rather

than a luxury item for the rich (Wilkie et al., 2005). Wild meat consumption may decrease if household

incomes rises fast enough and high enough to shift wild meat. In the Neotropics, increase in household

wealth appears to drive a shift in preference for wild meat to the meat of domestic animals or to narrow

the range of species consumed. Studies in West or Central Africa suggest different choices associated

with increased financial security. A survey completed in rural and urban households in Gabon reports that

consumption of wild meat, fish, chicken, and livestock increased with increasing household wealth

(Wilkie et al., 2005). Furthermore, the effect of increasing household income as well as overall increased

expenditure on wild meat may cause a shift from trapping to gun hunting.

The relationship between wealth and wild meat has recently been reported, in the following manner.

Middle-income households benefit most from wild meat, whereas the very poorest and most wealthy

households do not receive income from wild meat (Starkey, 2004; Kümpel, 2010). The poorest have

restricted access to hunting, and poor communities lack fit adult males to hunt, whilst the wealthy have

alternative sources of income.

23

Increased market access does not necessarily provide increased trade opportunities for the poorest

households, and for high-value products, such as wild meat, increase in market access may shift use of,

and access to, wild meat towards richer households. There are not many data on the users and uses of wild

meat incomes by hunters and households. If hunting incomes is not used as an essential component of

household economies, then, a reduction in the commercial wild meat trade may not have a significant

effect on hunter livelihoods (Starkey, 2004). If, on the contrary, hunting incomes are used to purchase of

subsistence items, then declines in hunting income could severely affect hunter livelihoods. Where

positive correlations between hunting and wealth are observed, it is hard to determine the direction of

causation. Do wealthier households have better access to hunting equipment or does hunting make

households wealthier? It has recently been found that hunting households are wealthier (in terms of

assets) than non-hunting ones, but there was no correlation between hunting offtake and wealth.

Household wealth may be constraining participation in hunting, with poor households unable to access

wildlife resources either due to a lack of capable men or due to start-up restrictions created by the cost of

hunting equipment, which is relatively high for snares due to the number of snares required to produce a

hunting return that justifies the effort (Coad et al., 2010). Hunting itself may not be the main driver of

wealth accumulation.

De Merode, Homewood and Cowlishaw (2004) also report that the value of wild meat for both

consumption and especially market sales is greatest in the wealthier households. They conclude that

poorest households are not necessarily the most dependent on wild meat.

Is wild meat consumption dependent on its price or on the price of alternative meat based protein? Is wild

meat taste preferred over the others?

A conventional thought is that residents of the Congo Basin prefer the taste of wild meat over

domestic animals and that wild meat consumption is a deeply rooted tradition that is impossible to

change. Yet food studies have not established that consumers have clear taste preferences for wild meat.

The influence of wild meat price on purchasing decisions is undetermined and elasticity in wild meat

prices is poorly documented. On the demand side, two prices likely drive the consumption of wild meat:

the price of the meat itself and the price of close substitutes. Domesticated animals can be substitutes or

complement wild meat consumption. A study in lowland Amerindian societies suggests that consumption

of wild meat and fish responds to changes in their price, in that people consume less when prices are

higher. A decrease in the price of domestic animals meat is associated with a large decline in the

consumption of fish but not wild meat (Wilkie and Godoy, 2001). The own-price elasticity of demand for

wild meat is particularly high among wealthier households; any factors that lowers the marginal cost of

24

hunting is likely to increase hunting effort and its related effects. A survey completed in rural and urban

households in Gabon also reports that as the price of wild meat, fish, chicken, and livestock rose,

consumption declined. Although the prices of substitutes for wild meat did not significantly influence

wild meat consumption, as the price of wild meat increased and its consumption fell, the consumption of

fish rose, indicating that fish and wild meat were dietary substitutes (Wilkie et al., 2005).

In urban areas (logging towns and cities):

Urban consumers usually have the choice of several sources of protein but opt for wild meat for a

variety of reasons that vary between regions. In CAR, the poorest urban families often buy smoked wild

meat as the most available and cheaper source of protein, often from the less expensive species, and

consume it in very small quantities per day (Fargeot, 2010). In urban Equatorial Guinea, the situation is

quite different: the top three most preferred foods are all fresh fish or wild meat species, whereas the top

three most consumed foods are frozen mackerel, frozen chicken and frozen pork due to their lower cost

(Kümpel et al. 2010b). For the wealthiest families in Libreville or Yaoundé, the incentives for wild meat

consumption do not only depend on availability and prices. Such households consume less wild meat per

person per day than poorer households, but are less sensitive to prices and often choose fresh wild meat

(rather than smoked) and the more expensive species (porcupine, python) (Knights, 2008). Urban

consumers differentiate amongst wild meat species and wild meat cannot be treated as a generic food

source. Besides income, ethnicity and nationality are key determinants of consumption of wild meat. In

Bangui, CAR, purchasers of fresh domestic meat are more likely to be Muslims originating from

neighboring countries whereas wild meat consumers are most likely to be from local ethnic groups (A.

Constant, personal communication, 2011). In Cameroun, familiarity with the taste of wild meat due to

childhood experience is clearly a major factor in determining preference (S. Zombou, personal

communication, 2011). Wild meat is even traded in European capitals, sold in residential areas with

significant African populations. It is not surprising therefore that European residents who have their

ethnic and cultural origins in Central and West Africa and who are returning from a visit there would

bring wild meat for their own use and to share with relatives. Cultural preference for wild meat

encourages consumers to pay high prices for wild meat. For example, in India, popularity for wild meat as

a luxury good is soaring, people are willing to pay five times the price of domesticated animal meat

(Ravindran, 2008).

Meat hunted in wilderness, traded in rural areas, and marketed in cities satisfies human social needs,

support new consummatory habits, and stimulates an accelerating demand for wild meat. Urban demand

ranges from local towns to bigger ones. An active market has grown up to supply the needs of urban

25

dwellers (Bowen-Jones et al. 2002). Restaurants owners offer a variety of game dishes, considered by

consumers more tasty and nutritious, and as superior goods. A study in the region of Korhogo (the fourth

largest city of Ivory Coast) estimates 70% of wild meat hunt by rural community is sold to the Korhogo

merchant; another 20% is sold within the community, while the remainder, about 10%, is consumed by

hunters and their families (Bassett, 2005). This drain of wild meat from rural to urban consumers shows

that the scarcity of game in the countryside is relative to the purchasing power of socially differentiated

consumers (Fa et al., 1995).

The immigration wages linked to extractive activities influence hunting dynamics and wild meat

consumption in logging towns. Most companies fail to provide their workers with animal proteins,

logging taking place in remote areas, then they rely on wild meat. A study in a logging camp in northern

Congo reports an increase in demand for wild meat among logging workers due to disposable incomes

and few others dietary options. 76% of their meals contained wild meat. Household wild meat

consumption also increases in nearby villages from 39% of meals in unaffected villages to 49% of meals

in villages servicing the logging camp, presumably because of the increase in hunting income (Auzel and

Wilkie, 2000).

Some authors express concerns about the spread of wild meat supply from rural areas to the cities

because reversing wild meat demand in high density urban areas will become even more difficult, due to

the individualistic and multicultural complexity of social factors (Rose, 2001).

iii. Discussion:

According to the World Food Summit (1996), “food security exists when all people, at all times, have

physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutrious food that meets their dietary needs and food

preferences for an active and healthy life”.

Is wild meat a key element for food security among the poorest? The prevailing opinion is that wild

meat is an important contributor to food security (FAO/WHO, 1992; F. Egal, personal communication,

2011), up to 30-80% of the protein intake for forest dwellers in the Congo Basin (Koppert et al., 1996).

Our observations may reflect different definitions of poverty and a complex array of social and

economic factors that determine differential access to wild resources both within and between the

communities. However, we found that the poorest households “do not have (a complete) physical and

economic access” to hunting, due to low income, costly equipment or lack of fit adult men, and because

of a lack of entitlements. Even when the poorest have access to hunting, selling meat at the markets is

26

preferred over consumption as this source of income is most important to households. Rural households

differ considerably in their access to wild resources. An “entitlement” approach provides a useful

framework to explain the differential access of households to wildlife. Entitlements can be defined along

many axes, including the ability to harvest wild foods from the environment (determined by access to

tools), the ability to sell wild foods at the market (requiring a food surplus), the ability to purchase wild

foods at the market (limited by disposable income) and the ability to receive gifts (determined by social

networks) (De Merode, Homewood and Cowlishaw, 2004).

Undoubtedly, wild meat is recognized in both urban and rural areas as “a nutritious food that meets

dietary needs and food preferences”, serving multiple functions beyond the pure consumption. There are

cultural, spiritual and taste preferences that override predictions and patterns of behaviour captured in

economic models. Even where urban consumers have access to domesticated sources of meat, wild meat

remains an important item of their diet.

“An access to sufficient wild meat, at all times and for all” implies the use of wild meat to be

sustainable. Total consumption of wild meat worldwide is very large, being a major source of protein in

tropical forests and now a significant protein source in urban areas. To determine how much hardship the

poorest people will suffer if wildlife populations continue to decline, we need to distinguish clearly

between the use of the resource and dependance on it (Bennett, 2002). Correlates of forest peoples facing

real problems when wild meat stocks decline include: remoteness from markets; a lack of cash coming

into the community; lack of neighbouring communities of the same or other ethnic groups with whom

they have a good relationship and from whom they can learn farming skills; cultural difficulties.

The need to identify precisely the real value of wild foods in rural communities is gaining importance

in both the conservation and development literature. Without such information, the ramifications of any

policy response to the wild meat issue are not clear, either in development to contribute to food security

or in conservation terms. Poverty is complex and it would be naïve and impractical to expect sustainable

use of wild meat by itself, to contribute a realistic means of eliminating poverty. Access to wild meat

could be seen as a symptom of poverty, not the cause. Humanitarian agencies often use household

reliance on wild foods as a primary indicator of impending famine (Young, 1992), but it is also known

that cultural, economic, social preferences also contribute to the choice of consuming wild meat.

The “safe” nature of wild meat for a “healthy life” will be discussed in the two following chapters.

27

b. Zoonoses:

i. Background:

Infectious diseases account for 16% of global deaths (WHO, 2008); 60% of emerging infectious

diseases (EIDs) of humans are zoonotic; of these, 75% originate from wildlife (Woolhouse, 2002). Over

the past three decades, agents responsible for global pandemics such as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency

Virus) - AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) and others diseases that cause high case-fatality

rates (e.g. Ebola virus (EBOV), SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome)-associated coronavirus) have

been reported to have emerged from hunting wildlife and/or butchering wild meat.

Hunting and consuming wild meat have been part of human life for at least six million years. It entails

close human contact with vertebrate and microbial diversity, which is a biologically ancient phenomenon.

Interestingly, pathogens invading new hosts appear to have increased over the past decades. Zoonotic

pathogens emerge through successive invasion, establishment, and persistence steps, which a complex set

of circumstances that human behaviour contributes to. An ecological threshold has been crossed due to

contemporary human behaviors, resulting in fundamental changes in host population’s structure and

dynamics, increasing substantially, the probability of contact and pathogen spillover during hunting

(Field, 2009).

The risk of emergence or (re)-emergence of zoonotic diseases (EZDs) from hunting and eating

wildlife is still of global importance (Wolfe et al., 2000); it may lead to important public health and

economic problems in the near future. Now, more than ever, it has become clear that we must be capable

of addressing such threats.

FAO has recommended, “initiating studies on sanitary risks and eventual diseases transmitted

through bushmeat consumption” (FAO, 2004). This chapter highlights the complex multifactorial set of

activities contributing to disease transmission associated with hunting and butchering. Indeed, we make

the distinction between the food safety health threats (food-borne zoonoses) associated with consumption

(involving a contact with wild meat as a food commodity) – See Chapter c.: Food safety – and disease

risks associated with contact with the living or freshly killed animal.

ii. Science-based facts:

Hunting includes activities of tracking, capturing, handling, killing, sometimes basic field butchering,

and transporting of the carcass. It involves direct contact with potentially infected tissues and body fluids,

28

whereas distant consumption may not. Butchering includes activities of opening, cutting, dressing and

preparing the carcass. It is obviously more risky for bloodborne pathogens than the transportation, sale,

purchase and consumption of butchered meat.

The global emergence of a zoonotic pathogen requires three steps. First, the invasion: the pathogen

must be successfully transmitted between a wild reservoir and humans. This step generally implies

repeated transmissions of non-human viruses to humans (the phenomenon is called “viral chatter”), most

of which results in no human-to-human transmission. Then, the establishment: the pathogen must be

directly transmitted between humans. Finally, persistence: the pathogen must move from a local epidemic

into the global population.

Access to once remote locations is a major concern associated with extractive industries which

increase environmental destruction and enable people to penetrate habitats that are normally not heavily

occupied by people. This brings people into closer contact with wildlife and facilitates wildlife being

brought onto urban centers. To support the growing communities living around extractive industries sites,

and the increasing demand for wild meat, levels of hunting are increasing, most of time within the same

region. This favours the pathogen invasions into humans. Secondly, increasing densities of human

populations in urban centres close to hunting areas and the increasing rates of movement of people

between village, town, increase the risk of establishment; thirdly, increased travel or migration and

international commerce facilitate the global spread.

In this section, we will discuss how complex combination of hunting and butchering practices,

contemporary human behaviours, and viral dynamics, lead to EZDs and increased health threats to

humans.

Human encroachment on forest habitat: how deforestation and hunting led to the

emergence of retroviruses (SIV/HIV/SFV): focus on Congo Basin:

Encroachment of humans into forests for logging provides opportunity for novel zoonotic pathogen

exposure. Clear cutting (used in South-east Asia) may be less likely to result in zoonotic emergence than

selective extraction (practiced in Central Africa) because of the relatively low contact rate between people

and wildlife. Selective extraction is also more likely to sustain natural diversity of wildlife than clear-

cutting (Fa, 2002) and therefore, sustain pathogen diversity associated with wildlife populations.

Constructing roads, which transport workers into relatively pristine forest regions and provide increased

contact between low-density, remote human populations and urban populations with access to

international travel, allows locally restricted pathogens to potentially spread globally and ultimately

29

exposing. As forest edges adjacent to roads are degraded, wildlife movement between forest patches

decreases. This process contributes to the loss of vertebrate reservoir host species richness, and may result

in increased abundance of highly competent reservoirs of some zoonotic agents, increasing the risk for

transmission to humans. Fragmentation may increase the functional interface between human populations

and reservoirs hosts. Since hunting activities traditionally radiate in a circular fashion from isolated

villages, roads provide an increased number of points at which hunting activities can commence,

changing the pattern of human contact from a circular pattern to a banded one (Wolfe et al., 2005a).

The Congo Basin is a representative region where such extractive industries exist and from which a

range of notable zoonotic pathogens have emerged: HIV, Ebola and Marburg viruses, and monkeypox.

The emergence of HIV-1 in the human population is most likely the result of contact with infected

blood or tissues through hunting and butchering non human primates (NHPs). Several strains of Simian

Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) are thought to have separately crossed over from African monkeys and

apes into humans and after a long period of incubation, evolved into HIV. Each strain has different

pathogenicity, with HIV-1, from Central Africa chimpanzees, being the most virulent, which has now

spread to millions of people around the world. The virus most closely related to HIV-1 is a SIV, thus far

identified in captive members of the chimpanzee subspecies Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Keele et al.

(2006) have provided, for the first time, a clear picture of the origin of HIV-1, establishing Pan

troglodytes troglodytes as a natural reservoir of HIV-1. Mindell has argued that HIVs and SIVs should be

referred as “primate immunodeficiency viruses” to more accurately reflect their heritage (Mindell, 1996).

HIV emergence is the result of a complex set of largely ecological and sociological changes in Africa,

including deforestation, expanding human populations, rural displacement, urbanisation and its attendant

poverty, sexual behaviour, parenteral drug use, and increased local and international travel. HIV - AIDS

ranks as one of the most important infectious diseases facing humankind in the 21st century; HIV-1 has

infected more than fifty million individuals and the rate of new infections is estimated at nearly six

million per year (UNAIDS, 2009).

The recognition that HIV - AIDS originated as a zoonosis heightens public health concerns associated

with human infection by simian retroviruses endemic in NHPs, including SIVs, simian T-cell

lymphotropic virus (STLV), simian type D retrovirus (SRV), and simian foamy virus (SFV).

A study on primate wild meat in Cameroon has shown for the first time that a significant proportion

of hunted primates were SIV infected (Peeters, Courgnaud and Abela, 2002). High rates of ongoing

exposure to NHPs, through hunting and butchering in rural villagers in forest sites in Cameroon were also

reported. Wounds, abrasion, cuts or other injuries sustained by hunters, and close contact with blood,

30

organs and other tissues during the hunting and butchering of wildlife demonstrates the mechanism by

which zoonotic pathogens may be transmitted. Studies show an ongoing exposure of humans to a plethora

of genetically highly divergent SIVs (Wolfe, Prosser and Carr, 2004; Kalish, Wolfe and Ndongmo, 2005).

Cross-species transmission of other retroviruses has also been documented among hunters (Wolfe,

Switzer and Carr, 2004). It can thus not be excluded that simian lentiviruses from primate species other

than mangabeys, chimpanzees and/or gorillas, have been or will be transmitted to humans. More detailed

analysis of SIV prevalence and diversity in wild primate populations as well as sentinel surveys among

humans frequently exposed to primates are needed. SIV lineage specific serological assays need to be

regularly updated as new lineages are discovered; they permit detection to define with greater accuracy,

existing SIV reservoirs and associated human zoonotic risks (Aghokeng, Liu and Bibollet-Ruche, 2006).

The risk for additional-species transmissions is not equal throughout Cameroun and depends on hunted

species and SIV prevalences in each species (Aghokeng, Ayouba and Mpoudi-Ngole, 2010). In addition,

high HIV prevalences in remote areas could lead to recombinants between HIVs and SIVs and allow

more efficient adaptation and replication in the new host. One major public health implication is that,

these SIV strains are not always recognized by commercial HIV-1/HIV-2 screening assays, and as a

consequence, human infection with such variants can go unrecognized for several years and lead to

another epidemic/pandemic.

Human infections with SFVs have been reported after exposure to infected NHPs and their tissues,

blood, and body fluids, and in a few hunters in Cameroun (Switzer, Bhullar and Shanmugam, 2004;

Switzer, Salemi and Shanmugam, 2005; Boneva, Switze and Spira, 2007). The efficient transmission of

SFVs to human, specifically following ape bites, and its persistent have been demonstrated in natural

settings in Central Africa (Calattini, Betsem and Froment, 2007); the infection seems to be latent with no

evidence of virus transmission between humans (Williams and Khan, 2010).

Given the ongoing contacts between infected NHPs and African populations through hunting and

butchering, together with the increase in wild meat trade related to increasing presence of logging

concessions and growing rural and urban populations, it is likely that cross-species transmissions are still

occurring. Such zoonoses are more frequent and widespread than previously appreciated (Wolfe, Heneine

and Carr, 2005b; Kalish et al., 2005), clearly demonstrating an important health issue in the wild meat

debate.

Opening new areas: how roads construction and increased movements of peoples and their

animals from neighbouring communities led to tuberculosis (TB), Anthrax and Ebola

cases: focus on Sub-Saharan Africa:

31

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB);

Disease frequently passes from livestock to wildlife and from livestock to humans. But BTB

transmission from wildlife to humans has been insufficiently studied in Sub-Saharan Africa, where wild

meat consumption prevails (Hotez and Kamath, 2009). It is speculated that human populations also

become infected through the handling and consumption of wild meat, with the most likely mechanism of

infection to humans being the cutaneous route (cut, abrasion), associated with wildlife slaughtering.

Dressing carcasses is more commonly done in the field by men, who deal with heavy species (e.g.,

antelopes, bushpigs), while small species, such as primates, rodents, and reptiles are more likely to be

dressed by women in the markets. Overcooking meat is a common measure used to prevent gastro-

intestinal infections in African countries, which limits oral transmission. TB is a major opportunistic

infection among HIV-infected populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, where six million of co-infected people

live. Approximately 50% of African cattle live in countries without control measures for the diseases

(Etter et al., 2006). Surveillance for BTB in wild meat markets could provide greater insight to the

potential role infected wild meat has on this public health burden.

Anthrax:

In Taï National Park, Ivory Coast, sudden chimpanzee deaths were related diagnosed as anthrax,

which then can be found in NHPs living in a tropical rainforest, a habitat not previously known to harbour

Bacillus anthracis. Chimpanzees could have become infected through ingestion of spores from

contaminated water. Isolated cases of anthrax have been imported to other parts of Ivory Coast by

transporting animals from anthrax endemic countries. Indeed, owing to deforestation, cattle transports

from Mali and Burkina Faso have passed close to the border of the Taï National Park. This case

represents substantial threat to human health through wild meat consumption (Leendertz et al., 2004).

An outbreak of Ebola in chimpanzees in Taï National Park was first described in 1994 (Le Guenno et

al., 1995). The timing of the outbreak, just after the rainy season, raised suspicion that the virus is present

in an insect or other arthropod host and is transmitted through an intermediate mammalian host (Morell,

1995). It might be an unidentified species of rodent whose population has boomed since 1990, when

Liberian refugees, escaping civil war, began streaming into camps near the park, with their domestic

animals and other commensal organisms, disrupting the forest ecology by clearing and cultivating fields

within the park. The environmental and climatologic perturbations in the park could have combined to

change the demographic parameters of the Ebola reservoir or some aspects of its behaviour.

32

Human encroachment through expanded urbanization: how wet markets and butchering

led to the emergence of a new coronavirus: focus on Asia:

Urbanization is intensifying worldwide, with two-thirds of the human population expected to reside in

cities within thirty years; cities serve as significant hubs of pathogens introduction (Bradley and Altizer,

2006). In South-east Asia, urban wet markets are very popular and concentrate people, domestic and wild

animals usually caged and killed at the market with slaughtering and butchering usually performed in

front of customers upon request, with poor biosecurity. Animals come in direct contact with sales clerks,

butchers and customers. These markets, as intensive milieu, may offer an ideal setting for pathogens to

jump to new host species.

The pattern of the Guangdong SARS epidemic in 2002 is consistent with the classical process of

zoonotic emergence (Xui et al., 2004). The virus involved is not closely related to any previously

characterized coronaviruses and was isolated from Himalayan palm civets whose meat is considered a

great delicacy. Evidence of infection has been found in a raccoon dog, Chinese ferret badger, and humans

working at a live animal market (Guan et al., 2003). Many of the earliest cases of SARS were people

closely associated with wild meat trade ranging from handling, butchering, selling and even preparing and

serving civet cat meat (Ng Chi-yan, 2005; Wang and Eaton, 2007). The traditional practice of using

wildlife for food and medicine, largely observed in southern China, offers an effective bridge from a

natural animal host to humans. Studies failed to find any evidence of widespread infection in civets or a

variety of animals traditionally used as food in China (Tu et al., 2004). Since an outbreak of SARS was

averted in 2004, many novel coronaviruses have been recognized from different species, including

humans. Infection with SARS-like coronaviruses in insectivorous horseshoe bats was reported by two

independent research teams (Lau, 2005; Li, 2005). Bats may play an integral role in the ecology and

evolution of coronaviruses, with high genetic diversity and high prevalence across a wide geographical

distribution, possibly with asymptomatic or persistent infection (Tang et al., 2006). In the Guangdong

case, the civet cat is thought to be the intermediate host enabling the virus to pass from bats to civets to

people.

In many parts of the world, bats serve as a source of wild meat, highlighting the risk for pathogens to

move directly from bats to people, or from bats to intermediate hosts to people. It is suspected in SARS

and also Henipah virus transmission to people in Malaysia.

Urbanization in Africa is increasing rapidly, with high population densities, and encroachment of

natural habitats. This migratory bat is common across sub-Saharan Africa and lives in large colonies,

often situated in cities. It is a source of wild meat in some regions, then further studies should determine if

33

it forms a reservoir for EBOV from which spillover infections to the human populations may occur

(Hayman et al., 2010). Direct bat to human transmission of EBOV has been reported (Leroy et al., 2009).

In Madagascar, they are reported to occupy the roof spaces of schools and hospitals (Jenkins and Racey,

2008).

Zoonoses are not limited to viral and bacterial transmission. A recent study, the first in its nature,

highlights the parasite diversity in Central African monkeys and the potential threat of zoonotic

transmission, through wild meat consumption. Some hookworms are transmitted transcutaneously by

infectious larva during butchering (Pourut et al., 2010).

Recreational hunting: how high densities of preys and hunting put both humans and

domesticated animals at risk: focus on Europe/America:

Growing popularity of recreational hunting in Europe and North America exposes humans to zoonotic

infections. Recently, such activities have promoted concentrations and large-scale export of wild animals

such as hares from Poland (possible reservoir of tularaemia and brucellosis transmitted through the

handling of infected carcasses (Bourque and Higgins, 1984)); rabies-infected racoons in the United States;

wild boar (reservoir of Brucella suis) in Belgium (Gibbs, 1997). Such practices, by providing large

quantity of reservoirs, provide the zoonotic risks.

Over the centuries, wild boars has been viewed as a recreational hunting species and a source of wild

meat, including throughout the world wild boar, warthog, bush pigs and peccaries. Field dressing of the

carcass and meat consumption may transmit the following bacterial zoonotic infections: Brucella,

Salmonella, Escherichia coli and Mycobacterium bovis (Gibbs, 1997). Brucellosis is an important

zoonotic disease (Godfroid, 2002) acquired from wild boars in the United States, Australia and Europe;

and re-emerging in humans in Queensland because of the recreational exposure to wild boar (Robson,

1993).

iii. Discussion:

The global pandemic of HIV, presumably originated from primate-borne viruses and transmitted

through wild meat consumption dramatically illustrates how a pathogen not previously encountered by a

host species (humans) can spread rapidly throughout the population, infecting tens of millions of

individuals around the globe in only a couple of decades.

Other wild meat derived pathogens may not have become persistent in the human population but have

34

successfully been transmitted to people (SFV) and in some cases have subsequently been transmitted

among humans (monkeypox; Ebola).

Lessons learnt are at least for three-fold:

Preventing:

Socioeconomic conditions, such as a lack of hygiene, informal trade, lack of veterinary inspection and

food safety services, lack of disease awareness, can be considered as risk factors for bushmeat traders,

butchers, hunters, and middlemen to become infected. “Butcher wild meat with care” campaigns should

be initiated to prevent risky practices, focusing on the transmission pathways of viral (HIV, EBOV,

coronavirus), bacterial (TB, anthrax) and parasitic diseases that have previously infected humans.

Perceived risk is more likely to change behavior when there is an obvious connection between the

risky behavior and personal health. Retrovirus infection implies a delay before the onset of symptoms,

making difficult, a direct association between the causative agent and the actual disease. Even when a

behavior is perceived as risky, people have been known to underestimate their risk in cases where hazard

is natural or uncontrollable (Gardner and Stern, 1996). Underestimation of risk contributes to denial of the

hazard and continued practice in the risky behavior, adding challenges to an outreach campaign. When

the risky behavior is associated with a beneficial activity, the threat must be large enough to warrant a

great sacrifice or an alternative behavior must be easy to adopt. Winning the support of religious, cultural

and traditional leaders in each village is of importance and could be strategic in such a wild meat disease

campaign.

While men are more likely than women to hunt wild animals, women are more likely than men to

butcher and prepare carcasses. Because of differential participation in risk activities by men and women,

gender-based interventions may be appropriate.

Predicting:

Microbes are likely to emerge from the interface of high microbial biodiversity (the “zoonotic pool”)

and interconnected human populations. Second, microbes are likely to emerge from microbial media,

which are nearly identical to human organ systems, with risks increasing for vertebrates who are closely

related to humans. Third, microbes are likely to emerge from scenarios involving a high frequency of

contact or a high intimacy of contact between microbial media and humans.

As a first consequence, innovative measures to improve vigilance needs to be focused in biodiversity

hotspots (tropical forests of Congo Basin, Amazonia, Madagascar, Southeast Asia) and regions such as

35

tropical countries with growing populations where encroachment into previously wild areas is creating

closer contact between people, domestic and wild animals. These locations can be characterized by

intensified and expanding agriculture production, high biodiversity, high human density or expanding

extractive industries in naturally biodiversity ecosystems. Some countries included are India, China, the

DRC, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia where, according to a 2008 report by FAO, 65% of

the world’s hungry live (FAO, 2011).

Members of the family Hominidae (including humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas) share

even greater similarity in susceptibility to microorganisms (Wolfe, Prosser and Carr, 2004). Hunting and

butchering NHPs is a biologically ancient behavior that we share with chimpanzees; and have been linked

to the transmission of Ebola, monkeypox, SIV and SFV. As another consequence, the frequency of

behavior involving exposure to NHPs, which remains largely unknown, needs to be assessed. In

Southeast Asia, where primates have become incorporated into religious mythology and local culture,

some temples have become refuges for populations of primates and account for more human-primate

contact than any other context, making them ideal places to investigate cross-species transmission of

infectious agents (Fuentes and Gamerl, 2005).

Effective strategies to reduce NHP hunting are critically needed to prevent the transmission of

additional primate pathogens. Previous examples have shown that indirect hunting reduction decreases

significantly the occurrence of the disease. For instance, the endemic monkeypox situation in Africa in

the 1980s and 1990s increased slightly as a result of many years of war, when people relied heavily on

subsistence hunting. With subsequent changes in lifestyle, due to increasing urbanisation and intensified

agriculture over recent years, the reported incidence of monkeypox in Africa has decreased (Jezek et

al.,1986).

A global early warning system to monitor pathogens infecting individuals exposed to wild animals,

focusing on those highly exposed, such as hunters, an innovative approach. Within the Global Viral

Forecasting Initiative (GVFI), monitoring is being done in Cameroun with trained hunters taking blood

samples from their kill; blood samples are taken from the hunters themselves so as to monitor any

evidence of cross-species viral infection with their prey (TED, 2009). The study is now expanding to

other continents. This monitoring will not only serve as an early warning system for disease emergence,

while also provides a unique archive of pathogens. Specimens from such highly exposed human

populations are screened specifically for agents known to be present in hunted animal (retroviruses among

hunters of NHPs), as well using generically broad screening tools such as microarrays (Rönn et al., 2009)

and random amplification polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Wolfe et al., 2007).

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Expanded demand for wild meat will likely lead to changes in the exposure of humans to potentially

zoonotic microbes. Therefore, assessing the risk that wild meat extraction and consumption pose to public

health will include an assessment of the economy and geography of wild meat supply and demand (Wolfe

et al., 2005a). Periodic surveillance centered on cities with large human populations and commerce in

wild meat could represent a useful approach for detecting novel transmission events. Systematic

virological surveillance in markets for understanding the evolution and emergence of viruses (TB in

Africa, coronaviruses in Asia) with infectious potential is relevant (Dong et al., 2007). The successful

prevention of a second SARS outbreak in early 2004 resulted from early detection of the virus in live-

animal markets in southern China.

A better surveillance of certain populations is of relevance, for example bats, representing 20% of all

mammal diversity may not have been sampled before because they are nocturnal, and perceived contact

with humans was low, are of importance and receiving attention now (Kuzmin et al., 2010). They live in

large colonies with close contact between individuals, life-history traits that might select for endemic

infections. Humans are moving into bats environments, and bats have to adapt to sharing (or being

brought into) man-made environments (Bennett, 2006). Furthermore, agricultural practices may be

attracting bats to areas of livestock production (FAO). Consumption of bats by many cultures is another

direct health risk.

Understanding:

Wolfe proposes an “origins initiative” to resolve disputed origins of major human infectious diseases,

among them AIDS and tuberculosis. The effort would involve systematic sampling and phylogeographic

analysis of related pathogens in diverse animal species, including wild species whose contact (direct in

case of wild meat) with humans could possibly have led to human infections (Wolfe et al., 2007).

For infection to be eliminated, diseases control measures would need to be directed at reservoirs,

which remain loosely defined for most EIDs agents. An understanding of reservoir infection dynamics is

essential (Haydon et al., 2002). We should learn more about the roles of the various bats species in the

maintenance of coronavirus infections. Are all these bats endemic hosts, or some spillover hosts? A

positive outcome will greatly enhance our understanding of spillover mechanisms, which will in turn

facilitate development and implementation of effective prevention strategies (Wang, 2006). The concept

of “liaison hosts” is also of importance: the bat SARS viruses were most likely amplified in palm civets

rather than being directly transmitted from bats to people (Bennett, 2006). In considering the diversity of

species and the habitats that they occupy, large populations sizes and densities, and the ability to migrate,

bats appear to be ideal candidates for the natural reservoirs of many coronaviruses. An Ebola outbreak in

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DRC in 2007 was connected for the first time to fruit bats exposure, a potential reservoir for EBOV

needing to be further explored (Leroy et al., 2009).

c. Food safety:

i. Background:

The safety and wholesomeness of food has always been important for humankind. Hunter-gatherer

populations have consumed wild meat for millennia. In the past decades, wild meat consumption has

soared worldwide, resulting from the growing rural and urban locations demand for meat with high

protein content, vitamins, minerals, lipids and savory sensation (Zakpaa, Imbeah and Mak-Mensah,

2009). Social, economic and cultural factors including subsistence, taste preference, medicinal and luxury

food drive this increased demand.

The world is facing an unprecedented volume of wild meat trade, which moves locally, regionally and

across large international distances due to rapid advance in transportation, coupled with increased human

migrations around the globe (conflicts, foreign workers) (Travis, Watson and Tauer, 2011) and tourism.

This has supported the creation of new pathways to supply wild meat, legally or illegally.

These changes mean that related wild meat safety hazards, which may have previously been confined

to relatively small areas, can now disseminate easily across countries and continents. The need to assess

and mitigate such hazards is of paramount importance. What is the nature of the food-borne risk through

wild meat? How important is it? How can it be managed?

ii. Science-based facts:

This chapter is a review of possible hazards that may be associated with wild meat.

Wild meat safety is, to date, poorly documented and consumption is intimately linked to specific

regions, peoples and cultures; and so are the entailed-risk and its perception.

Inspired by Lecocq’s work (1997) distinguishing the production, slaughtering and marketing

processes, the review of potential food-borne hazards may be associated with the following steps of the

wild meat commodity chain: production, slaughtering, handling, processing, marketing, cooking and

finally, consumption. This review is neither intended nor can it be a risk assessment, as description of risk

expressed qualitatively and associated with the hazards examined, both microbiological and chemical.

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The microbiological hazard:

Production (wildlife management); slaughtering (hunting) and handling (butchering and dressing):

These steps have been highlighted in the preceding chapter; we will only bring some complementary

information (related to food-borne diseases, including blood-borne and air-borne concerns).

The presence of zoonotic pathogens in the tissues of wild animals may constitute a finite risk of

infection to humans. Most carcasses are never subjected to formal meat inspection, resulting in an

increased risk to consumers, as macroscopic lesions (parasitic cysts, tubercles and abscesses), which

would normally have been removed by partial or total condemnation of the carcass, may then enter the

human food chain. The potentially more dangerous, yet sporadic and rare infestations of wildlife are often

macroscopically unapparent and the presence of such pathogens may frequently not be suspected.

Evisceration, gutting, skinning, plucking or defeathering and butchering represent the contamination

interfaces where the zoonotic risk may occur. These practices vary according to the region, the peoples,

the species and their size. Small game (rodent, fowl) may simply be carried home to be butchered; large

game (antelope, deer) is quickly field-dressed by removing the viscera in the field; very large animals

(apes, moose) may be partially butchered in the field because of the difficulty of removing them intact

from their habitat.

Some zoonotic diseases have been identified during extensive surveys on game carcasses in South

Africa (Bengis and Veray, 1997) through serological tests including reported human cas